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John Grice
T 07980 161306 E john@jgrice.co.uk www.jgrice.co.uk
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Artist in his studio.
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Foreword John Grice’s paintings take the traditional subjects of portraiture and still life, and challenge expectation through unusual juxtapositions. His artworks are created through a process similar to collage, using found imagery, the artist’s own photography, and observational drawing. Acting like an image on the cover of a novel these wonderfully colourful, complex artworks, act as distillations of longer narratives. They invite the viewer to draw out ideas, which may lie in wait to be discovered. The portraits in this catalogue strive to reveal the psychological state of the person by a variety of illustrative means. “Birds, leaves, berries and other natural forms act like poetic metaphors and cluster around the head, alluding to an inner world”. The still-life paintings are enhanced by associations and dialogues that might appear in relation to familiar bird species. Potential narratives are supported by titles to the pieces that make connections with ‘the precarious tension of opposites’ written about by Graham Sutherland with his references to the hairsbreadth between joy and sorrow, beauty and betrayal, stillness and clamour. The three studies of Shakespeare characters owe much to some insightful and powerful photography of homeless people by Lee Jeffries. The skilled execution of these paintings reveal a true mastery of the medium as well as a deep understanding of traditional values in painting. The artist’s careful research and richly varied use of source material have created a compelling, and visually striking body of work. - Lucy Harbut Prints are available from selected artworks in editions of 30. They are published to Fine Art Trade Guild standards and are sized 40 x 40 cm (square image), or 30 x 42 cm (rectangular image). Prints cost £80.
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Ariel Oil on canvas, 2013. 102 x 76 cm (Print available)
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Puck Oil on canvas, 2013 102 x 76 cm (Print available)
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Ophelia Among the Flowers Oil on canvas, 2013. 102 x 76 cm (Print available)
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Beauty and Betrayal Oil on canvas, 2013. 100 x 100 cm (Print available)
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Joy and Sorrow Oil on canvas, 2013. 100 x 100 cm (Print available)
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Stillness and Clamour Oil on canvas, 2013. 100 x 100 cm (Print available)
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Stillness and Clamour II Oil on canvas, 2013. 100 x 100 cm (Print available)
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Tulips Oil on canvas, 2010. 100 x 100 cm (Sold)
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Echinacea Oil on canvas, 2010. 100 x 100 cm (Sold)
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Anemone Oil on canvas, 2010. 100 x 100 cm
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Rotation Oil on canvas, 2010. 100 x 100 cm (Sold) (Print available)
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Thief in the Night Oil on canvas, 2012. 100 x 100 cm (Print available)
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Calla Lillies Oil on canvas, 2010. 100 x 100 cm (Sold)
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Water Table Oil on canvas, 2011. 100 x 100 cm (Sold)
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Separation Oil on canvas, 2013. 60 x 84 cm (Print available)
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Silent Correspondence Oil on canvas, 2013. 60 x 84 cm (Print available)
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Shaman or Showman Oil on canvas, 2012. 84 x 60 cm
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Words, Money, Blindness Oil on canvas, 2012. 84 x 60 cm
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Internal Dialogue Black ink and white acrylic, 2013. 36 x 27 cm
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Shadow Boxing Black ink and white acrylic, 2013. 38 x 54 cm
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Harbour House Gallery, 2013
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Exhibitions Harbour House Gallery, Kingsbridge The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Bath Plymouth museum and Art Gallery Bristol Guild Alveston Gallery, Penzance
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Designed by Lucy Harbut 2014
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T 07980 161306 E john@jgrice.co.uk www.jgrice.co.uk